Impact of Goal Orientation on Employee Creativity with the Mediating Role of Knowledge Manipulation in the Information Technology Sector of Pakistan

Abstract

Purpose-the main aim of this study is to investigate the impact of goal orientation in which we used learning goal orientation and avoiding goal orientation on employee creativity with the mediating role of knowledge manipulation. Design/methodology/approach-data was collected with the help of 269 questionnaires from information technology sector of Pakistan. Findings- the results showed that learning goal orientation increases employee creativity, avoiding goal orientation decreases employee creativity and knowledge manipulation increases employee creativity. Findings further shows that knowledge manipulation partially mediated the relationship between learning goal orientation and employee creativity and avoiding goal orientation and employee creativity. Research limitations/implications- this study used cross-sectional data and it was only gathered from two cities so generalizability of the study is limited. Practical implications- this study is one of the first attempts to investigate the mediating role of knowledge manipulation on the relationship between goal orientation (learning and avoiding goal orientation) and employee creativity. It will helps the management to understand that how different goal oriented individuals (learning and avoiding goal orientation) manipulate their knowledge at workplace to gain performance outcomes like creativity and ensure that manipulated knowledge in an organization does not affect the organizational performance. Originality/ value – this study contributes to the knowledge management literature by providing a stronger and plausible explanation of the relationship between goal orientation (learning goal orientation and avoiding goal orientation) and employee creativity with the mediation of knowledge manipulation.